American Airlines took $55 million revenue hit from Sandy and pilot disruptions

Skift Take

American Airlines and Travelport kicked the can and decided to continue their negotiations in 2013. While Hurricane Sandy and pilot job actions took their toll in November, at least there will be no disruption in the airline’s distribution arrangements for now.

— Dennis Schaal

American Airlines says Superstorm Sandy deprived the airline of $25 million in revenue in November, and there was an additional $30 million revenue impact that month from “operational disruptions” such as pilot sickouts that occurred in late September and early October.

In other developments, Travelport, which operates global distribution systems, revealed that the company and American Airlines extended their content agreements while they “continue to negotiate in the hopes of reaching a new long-term agreement.”

This means that the Apollo, Galileo and Worldspan GDSs will continue to have access to American’s flights and fares for travel agents while the two parties try to work out new agreements.

The content agreements had been slated to expire in “early 2013,” Travelport stated.

The extension also means that Orbitz Worldwide will have continued access to American Airlines’ flights since Orbitz gets access to these flights through Travelport.